


mind over matter

by orphan_account



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, eli is my greatest creation, huge winter vibes, jughead lives in atlanta and goes to emory, lots of snow, more tags tba, thanksgiving break fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:55:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24581935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: all jughead wants is to get to betty's tiny, hidden away town without any issues. that's proven difficult when the cross country train breaks down not even half way, snow jammed in the middle of nowhere.to make it all worse, there's a monotony of characters on the carriage with him making it very hard for him to relax.
Relationships: Archie Andrews/Jughead Jones
Comments: 7
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

chapter one  
three weeks before thanksgiving

jughead jones was not a fan of train rides. or thanksgiving. and yet, due to his weakness towards his dear step sister betty's words, he'd somehow agreed to take an (approximately) nineteen hour train ride to riverdale, new york, for the celebratory day of thanksgiving. 

he wasn't sure why he agreed, other than the fact he always gave into her, because she was his sister and he loved her, but that had never coaxed him away from his cosy shared apartment in atlanta, and his best friend stroke roommate, and their cats, and their perfect little schedule. 

this time, when jughead was smiling as she excitedly talked about a fancy pumpkin pie recipe she'd tried and errored and tried again, he prepared himself to say he was staying, again, like he did every holiday and every break, because he wasn't a riverdale kid. he was an atlanta kid. "your dad, jug." she breathed, after taking a break from explaining her baking experimentations. sometimes jughead wondered if they were separated at birth, or if they had some sort of otherworldly connection, because she always knew what he was going to say. "he's... he's doing amazing. he's so much better. he's working two jobs because j- um..." 

her crackled voice had trailed off. as much as betty could read him, he could read her right back. black hair and blonde, riverdale and atlanta, siblings by marriage and coincidence. they weren't technically related, but they were meant to be. just another one of gods fuck ups, but they'd still managed to find each other. "what is it, betty?" he asked, wrapping the cord around his fingers, a nervous trait he'd picked up from someone else.

he listened to her exhale, once twice. again. "jellybean is home, jug." his breath stopped. jellybean. his real sister, flesh and blood, same mother and father. the sister he hadn't seen for over eight years, when she was so little and young. he couldn't imagine her in the present at all, couldn't picture the same little girl being sixteen years old. 

all that missed time. 

"she's.. home? for the break?" he didn't really know how to react. joy? he didn't know her, he hadn't known her for years, and the teenage age was the years where people changed so much in their life, so quickly and so often. he wasn't a very empathetic person, or an emotional one. he didn't normally know how to feel, almost ever, which is why he had approximately five friends in atlanta, and one at home (betty), and he had never been in a relationship in his life. 

but he was a creative writing major. he'd read many books and essays, and he understood how other people felt, how others reacted to situations. normally, he'd mimic them until he felt uncomfortable and quit out on it. betty had been the first person to ever call him out on it, because of course she could sense it. 

he didn't care if she could, then. he didn't think she did either, because that situation was so raw to him. he'd never read essays about that. so he simply say "oh" and let the quiet overtake him. 

"it'll be okay, jug." he could hear her smile around her words, comforting him like a warm blanket and familiarity. "she's really nice. and to i'll be here for the break. so will i, even on your last day." 

he hadn't realised he was crying. he coughed, covered the receiver and checked his tone. no wavering, which was good. he didn't want betty to worry. "you're not going back to yale?" he asked, leaning his head against the door frame. distantly, he could hear his best friend playing with their triplet of kittens in the lounge. "i thought they had shorter breaks than emory."

she laughed. "same amount overall, juggie. i actually... asked for an extension. i would have had to leave a week earlier otherwise, and i miss you. and mom."

he laughed, glancing out the window and into the bright blue stretch of sky behind the array of buildings in atlanta. it was comforting. atlanta was his home, it always would be. 

but riverdale would be a great book setting. 

"okay, betty. okay. i'll come home." she squealed, and that made it all worth it. picturing her all happy, excited to see him. his sister, his real sister. he supposed they both were. jb by flesh and blood and genetics and dna, but betty by chance, by connection. "but not for you, it's for the setting. i'm writing this insane story, some prompt my professor gave me. it's about this kid..."

the call went on for hours, it always did. whenever that happened, every 55 minutes, they'd hang up and recall, because his calls past 7pm longer than an hour got charged. they'd pick up without a greeting, walk around their houses and make drinks, sometimes jughead would hold up one of the kittens to the receiver, normally the tiny gray mischief maker, monty, and monty would meow into the receiver, and betty would gasp and aww and not shut up about it for ten minutes, but it was sweet. 

they ended the call eventually, earlier than they normally would, because "if jug wanted to be in riverdale for the pre-thanksgiving fireworks show he'd have to leave the next day!", as expressed by alice in the background. she sounded excited too, which was nice. strange, but nice. 

"jones." jughead span around as he hooked the phone back up to the wall, after three long minutes of detangling the cord. his roommate, best friend, of three long gruelling years was stood in the door way. his arms were cradled, three tiny kittens stretching and tiredly clawing at his arms. "cats."

jughead smiled. "yes elijah, cats." their apartment was just starting to get dark, one of the highest floors in one of the tallest apartment blocks, with wall to floor windows in the lounge, and long stretching ones everywhere else. the wooden laminate floor was golden. one of the cats, the smallest one, white coat dotted with grey patches, leapt out of eli's arms and landed on the floor. she circled three times, and laid down in the sun. "listen, i need to talk to you."

eli grinned, leaning down to put the other two kittens on the floor. monty ran over to little white ahendra. the last kitten, a kitten eli had found in a garbage can eating a twinkie, diced out of the stretch of soft light on the floor, instead choosing to hide in jughead's shadow. "adder is just like you." eli commented. then he stood back up again, and looked directly at jughead with the weirdest smile the shorter of the two had ever seen. 

"what?" jughead laughed, curling a toe against adders back, gently scratching him. "freak."

"you're going back to riverdale for thanksgiving." eli walked straight past him, into the sunlit kitchen to make a drink. jughead knew it'd be coffee, he didn't say anything. sometimes eli just didn't sleep. when they'd first become closer friends, they'd argued about it, from a concerned point of view. they'd gotten past that argument.

"how the fuck did you know that?" jughead asked, reaching down to pick up adder. the scruffy cat nestled into the navy blue emory hoodie he was wearing. eli huffed from behind him, and when jughead turned around he was bent forward with his arms folded on the counter whilst the water boiled. 

"i'm a psych major, i can read minds." that's why eli was his best friend. he was smart, incredibly so, and funny, but he didn't pretend to be poetic or deep, he didn't read into expressions when he shouldn't. they knew each other backwards, but they had a system where they pretended to not know what was going on until the other said it was okay. because although someone knows you backwards, even though they can see you open and raw, that doesn't give them permission to use that to their advantage. eli understood that. 

"pass, eli, you're good. how did you know?" his taller friend rolled his eyes, dark hair falling in his face. he tilted his head slightly, dark eyes watching as adder stretched in jughead's hold before burying his face into the crease between his chest and sleeve. 

"i can always hear it in your voice when you're asked to go back. i know that sounds dumb, but you get tense and sad and excited? it's like, a new emotion only you seem to show. also i heard you say "i'll come home" so that's pretty telling." jughead reached over to slap eli's shoulder, laughing when adder meowed loudly. 

he gently put the kitten down on the counter, smiling when he walked back over to the corner and attempted to climb back into his arms. "if i want to her there for this firework show, which i dont, i have to leave tomorrow. apparently." conversations with eli were easy. of course they were, they were indescribably close and jughead doesn't know how he got so lucky to be able to trust one person with everything. but it was still strange, to accept you have that. he pouted. "i'm too tired to pack."

"me too!" the american-korean boy complained loudly, finally starting to make his drink. "that's why coffee. and then i'll crash on my flight to nebraska tomorrow. violá, a flawless plan." he had a point. otherwise, jughead wasn't sure he'd stay awake long enough to pack anything besides clothes away, and if he left books, or god forbid his laptop, behind, he wasn't sure he'd survive in dainty little riverdale. 

"i cant believe you're going all the way to nebraska just for thanksgiving. is this a new thing for you? are you gonna go for every holiday?" jughead squinted his eyes at eli, accusatory. for that, he got sugar flicked at him. "asshole."

"prick." his best friend retorted, "and no, it's not, you dumb english student. is riverdale? im only going to nebraska because i spend every miserable holiday with your soul sucking ass. my mommas gonna start thinking you killed me months ago." 

the original plan was that jughead would stay in their apartment with the cats, and barely celebrate thanksgiving, the way they barely celebrated it the three years prior. eli would stay in nebraska for three weeks, and return a few days after thanksgiving, after a very long and relaxing holiday with his family. 

"the cats." jughead said, staring down at adder. "what are we gonna do with the cats?" that was a huge problem. eli had already booked his tickets, but so had jughead. and either way, he couldn't take three cats to riverdale. 

"shit." neither of them trusted anyone else with them. "i can... i can book tickets, i'll call united reservations. if you're okay with that?" eli hesitated, noticing the way that even though jug wasn't meant against the counter, adder had still curled up right in the corner, to be as close to him as he could. "except for adds. you're taking him. i think he'd be miserable if he didn't see you for three weeks."

jughead looked down at the tiny, mangy cat, and sighed. "you sure? you'll take hennie and monty?" eli gave him an affirmative nod, grinning as soon as he detected an emotion he was allowed to call out without permission: fondness. it was a best friends right to be able to bully the other. 

"i knew you loved his skinny lil self! look at your smile! you're fucking delighted!" the psych major teased, sipping at his coffee. jughead flipped him off, using his other hand to gently scratch behind adders ear. he paid his best friend no attention, but he was thinking about him. a month would be the longest they'd not seen each other in almost three years, previously being a week at most. he'd obviously miss eli, but it'd also be strange to not have someone know your exact route around the house, not know when you're joking or not. betty would be there though, and addy. 

"i'll call the company, make sure they allow cats on the train. who knows, addy might fall in love with riverdale, i might have to stay there forever." when jughead looked back up at his best friend, eli was smiling so softly it almost made him break in half. they didn't say anything to each other, it was unspoken. that they'd miss each other so much for those three weeks. 

"let's pack, dumbass."

—

packing was a lot more simple when it was planned ahead. jughead didn't know riverdale, he barely knew new york. he mostly packed jeans and sweaters, but a few thinner shirts and two pairs of shorts just in case. then there was everything else, like what he'd need to entertain himself for a month. living basically homeless as a teenager meant he packed light, but he still worried he'd get bored. he also packed cat food, addy's favourite toy, and a tiny bowl, along with the collar and cat leash addy never actually wore, because he hated it. 

he nearly passed out when he finally zipped up his suitcase and finished shoving his smaller, backpack items into his bag, limbs heavy and eyelids involuntarily starting to close. he just managed to push his bags towards the door when adder pawed open the slightly ajar door, doing his weird little gallop run all the way over. jughead smiled, lifting him onto the bed and stripping down into his boxers, pulling on a pair of sweatpants in favor for jeans. 

right before falling asleep with a tiny cat curled up on his feet, he checked the weather app for the next week. light snow in both new york and alaska. funny.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it’s probably really weird to read a winter/thanksgiving fic right now, nearly in summer, but i miss fall so much and i wanted to do a more cliche contemporary, happier fic for once in my life. so.. enjoy:)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "what's her name?"
> 
> "his name is adder. he's not friendly." jug half heartedly tried one last attempt to get this airhead to leave him and his cat alone. they both knew it wouldn't work, whatever. it didn't hurt to try: he just wanted to revel in his teen angst bullshit all the way to riverdale in peace.

chapter two  
two weeks and six days until thanksgiving

mornings in atlanta were already peaceful, but incredibly so when it snowed. the wall-to-floor length windows in jughead's room faced the city, and he could distantly see the park, everything coated in a layer of white frost overnight. it was settled, inches of it on roofs within the few hours jughead slept for. 

it was a lot heavier than the weather app said it would be, but it was atlanta. snow was like a second skin: when it settled, the city did too. emory became peaceful in the winter months, soft and seasonal. everywhere smelt of cinnamon and spice, and the streets lit up with fairy lights the locals wrapped around trees and across houses. 

eli was making coffee in the kitchen, three kittens in a pile next to him. he looked peaceful, in black sweats and a hoodie the same as jugs, dark blue in colour with the emory emblem on the front. his hair was a mess, and he looked like the epitome of exhaustion. "hey." jughead greeted him, reaching over to rub behind ahendras ear. she meowed loudly, nuzzling her head against his hand. "i have to leave soon."

eli didnt move, not even to look at jug. he just continued to stir his drink with a spoon, eyes locked onto the counter in front of him. eli was typically a strange character: loud, funny, talkative, maybe annoying to outsiders. that's how jughead could always tell when something was wrong: he'd go quiet, and still. they both knew what it was about, neither wanted to go. even if they didn't admit it often, they were clingy, and they loved each other. "three weeks." the shorter of the two said quietly, reaching past the kittens to rest a hand on his best friends shoulder. "we can call every day."

eli laughed, finally snapping out of his daze. he patted jughead's hand, surprising his best friend by closing the distance and hugging him tightly. they weren't very touchy-feely people, even with each other, but jug knew he needed the comfort, knew he wasn't going to be as comfortable with his family in the following weeks as he might have been pretending to be. "i love you." eli mumbled into his friends dark hair before letting go of him. 

the following two hours in the apartment were near silent, spent moving bags into the lounge, and then sitting down together, possibly closer than they were normally used to, watching an episode or two of its always sunny in philadelphia. eventually, jughead had to reluctantly tell eli his train was in less than an hour. the two of them lugged their bags down the flights of stairs to the parking lot where eli's shitty, small car was, before returning to get the cats and lock the door. 

the drive was quiet, and the radio seemed to curse them by playing sad music only. jughead hadn't expected to be so worried to leave his best friend, but they spent almost every second together, and they were both going a good distance away to see family they didn't particularly like. 

eli walked jughead from the station parking lot all the way to his platform, carrying a bag for him. the station was fairly empty, the platform they stood on barren other than an older couple at the opposite end, sat on a bench. it was cold too, but train stations always somehow seemed to be. 

when the tunnel finally started to make noise, jughead gently put adders cat carrier on the floor and pulled eli into a hug again, this time a lot tighter and more desperate. he almost felt close to crying. they were only going away for three weeks, yes, but it wasn't about the time. it was about not having each other as an emotional crutch when things at both of their homes inevitably imploded. jughead supposed he could still cry to eli through facetime. 

"i love you too, by the way." his laugh was wet, words a retort to what eli had said earlier that morning. his best friend laughed, pulling back ever so slightly just as the train stopped next to them. he kissed jughead's cheek gently, and then brought him close to hug again. 

"good, you ass. now leave before i take adder with me." they eventually let go of each other, and maybe both of their eyes shined in a sad way a little more than normal, and maybe once jughead had got onto the train, found a seat with a table and a plug, he had regretted not accepting eli's invitation to go with him to nebraska weeks before. 

maybe, when the train pulled away, eli was laughing and chased the train as far down the platform as he could, eyes locked on the window he knew his best friend was behind, waving frantically as it pulled out of the station completely. by the time jughead couldn't see the train station anymore, his eyes were stinging and he had to will himself to not cry. 

as a distraction, he turned the open end of the cat carrier towards himself, smiling when he saw adder curled into the back corner, still fast asleep. 

at least he'd have one companion with him, in the tiny little town of riverdale. 

—

the trains passengers were truly ... a range of characters. from jugheads station in atlanta to riverdale, there were no more stops. it was a a straight shot all the way to his destination, and he wasnt sure it was going to turn out as peaceful as he'd expected it to. 

only three hours into the ride, when he'd been calmly writing with one earphone in, the other out so he could hear the intercom if need be, adders cat carrier next to him, one of the guys around his age decided to walk right past him. 

he'd noticed the group of them not fifteen minutes into sitting down. they'd moved from somewhere else in the train, for whatever reason, and come to sit in the same carriage as him. they were loud, and he could see them all wearing the same blue and yellow letterman jackets or college crest hoodies: everything about them screamed football players. there was four of them in total: there was loudest, the second tallest, the one who decided where they'd sit at after eyeing up the occupied table seats. a bright redhead, who was quieter but still loud, still jovial. then there was the two brunets, one the tallest, both of them a lot quieter and compliant to go wherever. 

jughead was less than satisfied that four football players would be that close to him for sixteen or more hours. he'd just hoped that as the hours passed, they'd quieten down, go to sleep or burn out from severe lack of cheerleaders to impress and beers to shot gun. 

then, as one of them passed him for whatever reason (bathroom? drinks trolley?), he stopped next to the table after noticing the cat carrier and incessant mewing. jughead pretended to not notice he was there, not even bothering to check which of the four copy and pasted type cast cliches they were. he just kept tapping away at the keyboard, ignoring the slow burn of embarrassment in his stomach, in fear of the irrelevant football player being able to see his computer. he never normally cared, but something about jocks in blue and gold reminded him of high school. 

"are you allowed cats on trains?" the jock asked, and jughead tried not to sigh as he eventually had to look up at the nosy boy instead of being able to focus on his writing. it was still so bright outside though, so he wasn't sure why he expected them to leave him alone, until they got sleep deprived. that was hours away. it was the ginger one who'd come over, but his hair colour didn't really make a difference. jughead knew from past experience they were probably all the same person. 

"mostly yes, if you call ahead." he deadpanned, trying not to scowl when the guy leant down to press two of his fingers against the grate. adder, being all too friendly, didn't try and bite like a normal cat. he gave a lick to the boys fingers, rubbing his head against them through the metal. red grinned curling his fingers and attempting to rub the kitty's ears. 

"what's her name?"

"his name is adder. he's not friendly." jug half heartedly tried one last attempt to get this airhead to leave him and his cat alone. they both knew it wouldn't work, whatever. it didn't hurt to try: he just wanted to revel in his teen angst bullshit all the way to riverdale in peace. 

"are you sure?" red spoke through a laugh as adder playfully gnawed at his finger before meowing loudly as the jock went back to rubbing behind his ear. adder wasn't unfriendly like jug had claimed, but he wasn't friendly either. he was soft, but shy. he'd never seen adder be as openly affectionate with anyone, other than himself and eli, as he was with this random redhead. "adder? like the snake? that's cute." 

the jock was practically sat down next to jughead now, bending his knees and leaning over to be able to pet adder properly. jughead kind of wishes he'd leave or sit down, the weird in-between was awkward and looked uncomfortable. 

from a few rows down, the loud jock yells over at them. "andrews! forget donnie darko, drinks!" the redhead seems startled at that, and jughead doesn't pretend to be surprised. he figured it'd only be a while until one of them showed their less pleasant side and wondered what their quadruplet was doing talking to some dark haired, skinny teenager. 

"sorry." red looked flustered, leaning away from adder, and subsequently jughead, who was surprised at the apology. maybe he was a little bit more than two dimensional after all. "goodbye adder. and donnie darko." he cracked a grin at the nickname, which seemed wholly inoffensive, maybe even a little bit mocking in regards to his own friend. jughead couldn't help the small smile that crossed his own face, despite the annoyance he still felt for all four of them. 

with that, red was gone in search of drinks. without someone near talking over them, jughead could very clearly hear reds friends talking, insulting him. laughing. he wasn't upset like he used to get in high school, just exhausted. he disregarded his own rule, putting his other headphone over his ear and rubbing adders nose through the grate, before turning back to his writing.

when ‘andrews’ passed back through, he was holding a tray of four drinks. he barely even made eye contact with jughead before they both looked away. 

jughead was aware he was a cliche too. he called them airheads, they called him donnie darko. he was almost the walking stereotype of the quintessential ‘weird’ kid in college or high school: weirdly skinny, pale, a bit of a loner. hell, he even had rescuing kittens ticked off. he recognised all of that. it wasn’t that he thought he was better than those people, he just found them particularly annoying. at least with angst ridden stereotypes like himself, no one got insulted unnecessarily.

by the time the window views were blurs of dark blue and black, they hadn’t once bothered him again. to his knowledge. he’d even managed to get a nice cup of hot cocoa peacefully, when his brain began to shut down from lack of sleep. he considered taking a nap, when he was half way through giving adder his food through the grate. maybe if he wrapped his arms around the cat carrier, it’d be safe. or if he put it on the seat, window side, and covered the top with his jacket. the jocks made him uneasy. 

his word count had been slowing for hours, but it’d completely halted at that point. whenever he blinked, his eyes began to water a little, and they stung considerably more when he was staring directly at a bright docs screen. after a yawn, jughead tiredly opened his emails on a new tap, trying to comprehend them through his exhaustion. emails about assignments due across thanksgiving break, one from administration about his last minute changes in terms of visiting riverdale. only boring stuff. 

after, he closed his laptop and slid it into his backpack, being extra careful by putting it in the space between himself and the wall. too tired to care, jughead wrapped his arms around the cat carrier to keep in place, and rested his head on top as the carriage lights dimmed. “g’night adder...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter sucked lol i’m sorry


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> veronica was, surprisingly, really good company. he didn't mind. he didn't mind her inviting herself to sit with him either, because she wasn't annoying. she was smart, and most likely the kind of arms-length company he can stand for a train ride, and most likely never see again.

jughead woke up as the train lurched once, then again, before it settled to a hard stop. he thought maybe he was dreaming, maybe it was just a bit of a hard corner, but he couldn't hear the clacking of the wheels, and he couldn't feel the movement of the train. when he opened his eyes, it was still dark. the carriage lights were still dimmed, but he could see people with their phones out, flashlights on, stood up and confused.

panic settled in in his stomach. he stretched his arms out, cupped one hand to the glass of the train window and peered outside. sure enough, they'd stopped moving, seemingly in the middle of a snow heavy, fields for miles landscape. he could hear the four jocks asking 'what the fuck was going on', and worried mothers trying to hush their babies. the crackle of the intercom interrupted them all.

"cross-country passengers, we regret to inform you we seem to have taken an emergency stop. please remain calm and do not leave the train, we will have the issue fixed as soon as possible." jughead closed his eyes, praying he really had been dreaming. the rise in volume of passengers when the intercom closed proved he hadn't been. he thought about texting betty, warning her he was going to be late, but when he pulled his phone out, eli's name with '4 unread messages' was the first thing he saw, all from within the few hours of sleep he'd managed to have. he read through the texts as the carriage lights brightened just a little.

eli: there's a snow storm?? so my flight has been delayed??

eli: im just worried about u

eli: juggie??? are u okay?

eli: they're saying all transportation is cancelled now but u left hours ago and ur not replying so?/>/>/

juggie: the train broke down in the middle of nowhere ?./.. i havent checked gps yet but i think we're barely half way???

the sky outside was no longer a dark blue like it was before jughead fell asleep, appearing as a completely inky black skyline, the snow right next to the tracks barely even visible. when he checked the maps app on his phone, it said they weren't too far from richmond, but way too far for walking distance. all he could hope was that the distance meant they could get repair people out quickly, because he's wasn't sure he could stand over six more hours with the obnoxiously loud douchebags a few rows down. as he thought that, a high class, beat and pristine looking girl walked directly past the four of them, earning some kind of whistle. jughead cringes, and noticed the way her eyes rolled at the gesture, but she barely seemed phased as she strut directly passed them all, onto the next carriage.

eli: holy shit? are u and adds okay? maybe we both shouldve just stayed at home :( maybe this is the universe telling us we only need each other

juggie: maybe we should've. addys fine, hes been sleeping the wholeee ride which makes things easier lmao. how r the other two babies?

eli: the airport gave me a roomto stay in for now, so theyre ok. hennies a lil bit stressed but she prob just misses u.

juggie: missing all u guys

when the very obviously rich girl passed back through the seats, without any innapropriate comments or catcalls, the intercom crackled back in, more of a daunting sound than the usual comoforting one. jughead was associating it with more bad news, usually it meant you were close to your destination. ironic, really. "due to the extremely early hours, repair companies will not be available for a few more hours. for this reason, we are opening the doors for an hour so anyone who wishes to get fresh air, can. please make sure you are seated after this time. we hope to be back on track soon." jughead sighed, looking down at addy, blissfully oblivious, curled into a little ball in the back of the cat carrier. he considered taking the carrier with him to go outside, maybe take a few photos of dark, snow covered fields, an abandoned, stationary train. he wasn't sure the tiny kitten with an affinity to stay inside constantly would like that very much.

seemingly everyone took the opportunity at hand, however: mothers and their kids, the jocks seemed especially excited for a smoke break, jughead had a feeling that announcment also had something to do with the posh girl. it didn't really affect him and his sesitive cat, though. "hey." a voice inturrupted his daze of watching people file of the train in thick coats, hats and gloves. he couldn't say he wasn't suprised when the redhead 'andrews' guy from earlier slid into the seat opposite him without warning, but he at least tried to remain unbothered. "i was uh. my friends went out to smoke, is all, but i don't smoke, and im kind of cold already. i was just wondering if you wanted me to watch your cat, if you wanted some air? he seems to like me."

"he likes everyone." jughead retorted, not missing a beat. he considered the offer, though. "you want me to leave my cat with a stranger, so to avoid leaving my cat... with strangers?" reds face fell, and he looked genuinely confused for a second. it was funny, and not even in a im-better-than-dumb-jocks way. it was just kind of sweet. jughead knew he was being rude, seemingly for no reason, but even just the catcalling that poor girl, and the stupid donnie darko remark proved red wasn't different.

"i mean, i guess... hey!" red called out to one of the trolley ladies, walking between seats with a trash bag, collecting peoples trash whilst they were in the snow outside. he flashed her a charming grin, and she very visibly swooned at it. jughead rolled his eyes. "could you possibly watch my friends cat whilst we step outside?" jug opened his mouth to complain, but he was cut off by the woman happily agreeing. he still would've objected, if he hadn't thought yet again about the photos he could take, the creepy setting he could more easily insert into his writing if he had photographic reference.

with mild complaint, jughead slipped on his jacket and gloves. when he got out of the seats, he gave the woman a cold, hard stare. just a warning. she seemed to understand, giving a nervous smile to him. he hears andrews stifle a laugh behind him, but he pretended not to notice, grabbing his camera before leaving red in his wake. he noticed red's friends on one side, and purposefully hopped off the train through the door on the other side. the side he was on was a slightly slanted hill, dark woodland trees all down the length of view for as far as he could see. he walked further up, snapping photos along the way, until he was nearly completely at the end of the train.

the girl from before was there. she was talking to someone on the phone, laughing into it. the screen lit up her face a little, and jughead tried to act subtle as he took a photo of the landscape with her in the corner. he didn't mean to do it in a creepy way, he just thought people are so much more fun to photograph than almost anything else. apparently, it didn't go completely unnoticed. "if you're going to take photos of me, at least ask me my name first." she called over to him, and despite the distance and dark, he could still tell she was smiling. he realistically knew she didn't think he was being weird and creepy, but he still feels embarrassed.

"i'm sorry, i was just trying to get photos of the train and stuff, but people make for good size references, and focal points, i swear i didn't mean it in a creepy way, i didnt even want-"

"hey!" she laughed, and started trying to make her way over to him through the snow. she was suprisingly not much shorter than him, and way more beautiful than he previously realised. she had dark hair and eyes, and her skin was a tan coco butter colour. jughead thought that she was the kind of person authors describe in a million metaphors and similes, because adjectives just dont do them justice. "it's fine, i happen to like being a model. plus, you don't strike me as the kind of guy to be all creepy. i'm veronica." she extends her hand, and jughead can't help but laugh. he shakes it, nonetheless, but the sight of her plum coloured gloves with black fur and pearls shaking his tattered, seemingly home-made wool gloves is extremely humorous. "and you are?"

he hesitated. introducing himself to new people was always a good way of determining their personality. "jughead jones." but she just grinned, and turned back to face the stream of light the train lights were casting onto the snow.

"well, jughead jones. do you still need a model? i need a man to protect me from those rambunctious jocks." her smile was warm, and friendly, and jughead wondered how the fuck any of that day was real. the one time he decided to visit riverdale, of course his luck leads the train to break down half way, and of course he couldn't even deal with the interference by sitting and writing.

"i could definitely use a model, but im not so sure if i can live up to the other end of the deal. can't say they've left me alone either." as that sentence trailed off, he turned around to the direction of where he'd gotten off the train himself. sure enough, andrews was stood in front of the closed doors to the train, hands in his pockets. apparently he'd taken the queue that jughead did not want to talk, but he hadn't gone to join his own friends either. it was strange, but jughead supposed if he didn't like to smoke, maybe he didnt like the smell either. yeah. veronica sighed from behind him.

"some people never leave high-school, especially those who wear letterman jackets and smiles of the damned." jughead wasn't sure if he'd ever met someone who spoke so poetically, except maybe himself or eli. definitely not normal for any young adult, but it sure made veronica a lot more interesting to him. he liked people who used words like rambunctious over a smile to get what they want. "anyway, im not too bothered about having a protector. i can do that myself anyway, but modelling still sounds fun."

jughead smiles.

-

veronica was, surprisingly, really good company. she was a good model too. she didn't ask questions about what the photos are for, and she was natural, not stiff and uncomfortable like most people were when jughead asked them to model for him. she made the setting look just how he wanted it to: open and dark, one very regular person in the middle of a wide landscape, abandoned and stuck. he even, for some ungodly reason, trusted her enough to look through the photos he took as they walked back around the train to the other side, where most people were. he wasn't a social person, but something about veronica clicked with him, and they'd been talking the entire time. she apparently went to college in new york, and she'd only been on the train because she'd previously been to visit someone for a few days.

"so are you going back to new york city? thats the worst luck." he laughs as she clicked through his photos next to him. he was frustrated enough himself, with the train breaking down and everything. he couldn't imagine just visiting somewhere for a couple days only to get stuck on your way home.

"this one is amazing. youre so talented." veronica commented, the display screen on the photo of her in front of the lights on the train, the stream of gold broken by her silhouette, the space around her large and empty, abandoned. he smiled. "and no, not new york city. im visiting my family, in riverdale. it'll be a change of scenery for sure, the few times i've visited that place i remember being stunned by how tiny it is. what about you? where are you headed?"

he inhaled the air. it was cold, but it was clean. a nice change from atlanta. "riverdale too. i... i'm visiting my half sister." veronica gasped dramatically, then squeals. normally jughead would have roll his eyes at someone acting like that, but instead he laughed. veronica is surprisingly alike to him.. except female, and an extrovert. but they weren't too different otherwise. they slowly started making their way towards the doors to the train, cold beginning to seep its way through their layers. plus, jughead imagined they had very little time left before they had to be back on anyway. he saw the small group of rambunctious guys, including red, just ahead of them.

"in that case, you're my company for the last six hours of this train ride. i dont think i can stand another minute of one of those first class elderly women trying to talk about if im betrothed or not." she took his arm in her own, and jughead really wondered how tired he had to be to be able to stand someone other than eli being that touchy with him. he didn't mind. he didn't mind her inviting herself to sit with him either, because she wasn't annoying. she was smart, and most likely the kind of arms-length company he can stand for a train ride, and most likely never see again. he supposed it didn't hurt to have someone to watch addy if he wanted to nap or go to the bathroom.

when they passed red and his friends, they got strange looks. "thats your type?" another low whistle, and jughead really did try to ignore it. people always pinned him as a lover and not a fighter, but he was both. he had layers. and for shit like catcalling, his fight later was surface level.

"shut up, dude." he rolled his eyes, barely even looking back at the airhead who said it. veronica let out a long sigh, but they tried to just keep walking ahead. they both knew the guys had decided to follow: it was hard to hide the crunching footsteps in heavy snow.

"come on reg-"

"no, it's fine. you're brave, suicide squad? wanna continue to talk back to me like that?" jughead felt a hand on his shoulder, and then a sharp shove, but it barely made him trip. veronica managed to catch him before he completely fell over.

"seriously?" she snapped, her otherwise friendly eyes turning fierce. if jughead was like them, if he cared about looking macho and tough, the dynamic between him and veronica would probably be embarrassing. the only reason he felt uncomfortable when she snapped at them was because he didn't like anyone sticking up for him, regardless of gender.

the front leading guy looked a little shocked, especially when jughead didn't step in, instead choosing to just stand back a bit and roll his eyes. "i don't know if you're stuck in some 1960's idealisation, but there's no types or obligation for me to date bad boys. so, i suggest you lay off." she gave them one last sweet smile, before turning around and liking arms with jughead again. as they stepped onto the carriage, she giggled. "i've never been so dramatic in my life, and i'm from new york!"

jughead laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tysm for the support on this! I finally got a new laptop so writing any and everywhere should be easier, so maybe I'll have chapters up more often?


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